Twin Valley support workers take on school board

The union representing the Twin Valley School District support workers called on the school board Monday to settle the labor dispute.

About 50 union members crowded into the school board meeting room to present a petition they say is signed by 548 district taxpayers, including 191 parents,

Don Reppert Jr., president of the union, renewed his charge that the school board and district officials, including Dr. Robert Pleis, superintendent, were lying about the union's demands to turn public sentiment against them.

The union represents 154 full- and part-time support workers, including custodians and teacher and cafeteria aides. They have been without a contract since the end of the 2017-18 school year.

John Stott, district solicitor, made a brief presentation bringing the standing-room-only audience up to date on the contract dispute.

Stott said he joined the negotiations about nine months into the process. Since that time, he said, the district has made four different offers to the union, all of which have been rejected by the union.

In response, Stott said, the union has made one proposal, which the school board has rejected.

Stott said the one union proposal included a demand for health care benefits, 13 paid holidays, paid breaks and other perks for part-time workers, but those benefits are usually reserved for full-time employees.

Reppert said the board was telling half-truths. Those requests were part of the union's first offer but have since been withdrawn in favor of a state fact-finder's report that called for a 65-cent-per-hour across-the-board wage hike in each of three years of a proposed contract. That is the union's current position, Reppert said.

"Well, they never presented that to us as a formal proposal," Stott said.

The Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, which oversees labor fact-finders, maintains the status of the Twin Valley fact-finder's report as having been accepted by the union and rejected by the school board.

Stott said the board is trying to negotiate with the union.

"We sent the union our last best offer on Friday and they unanimously rejected it," Stott said. "They sent us a counterproposal that we got today and haven't had a chance to review."

Stott said he wanted to review the union's counteroffer with the board but he wasn't confident it would be accepted by the board.

"Their counteroffer has six modifications and the board needs a chance to review them but I don't think it will be accepted," Stott said.

Stott said thus far most of the negotiation has been between union leaders and district officials. He said it may be time to set up a more formal negotiation schedule that includes the school board and members of the union. It was unclear when the two sides would meet again.

Stott said the board will have to review the union's latest offer before talks can continue.